Review: 'Phoenix Rising' by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris

Phoenix Rising by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris, 2011, Harper Voyager, $7.99, softbound, 402 pages. Category/Genre: steampunk. Cover: excellent except Braun's face isn't as pretty as we imagined it. Where we got it: bought it. Where you can get it: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million. 


We've been into steampunk lately, and this fit the bill quite nicely. Eliza Braun, field agent for the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences, has orders to help archivist Wellington Books for the forseeable future. Itching for action, Braun urges Books to help her solve the forgotten cases, starting with the last case her ex-lover was on, the 'Rag and Bone' murders. 

Much against his better judgement, Books agrees to aid Braun, and the two set off on an adventure filled with enough action and mayhem for even Braun, and enough intrigue and machinery for the inquisitive Books. 

The two follow a clue left by Braun's ex (who's now in a madhouse), and before long discover a secret society that goes back generations. Along the way, they pursue and are pursued by a mysterious woman in black. They also have to hide their investigation from their superiour, who doesn't want them in the field.  

Note: graphic sexual situations and mild language.  

If you like this one, try: The Janus Affair by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris; The Doomsday Vault by Stephen Harper.

Review: 'Cursed' by Jennifer L Armentrout

Cursed by Jennifer L Armentrout, 2012, Spencer Hill Press, $9.95, softbound, 287 pages. Category/Genre: fantasy. Cover: good. We'd like to see a picture of her eyes, though. Where we got it: bought it. Where you can get it: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million. 

Ember McWilliams died two years ago. Her sister, Olivia, brought her back, and since then Ember has had pale blue eyes and a killing touch. 

With their father dead and their mother all but comatose with grief, Ember must take care of the household by herself. But the money is running out, and things look grim. 

Then one day, some people come to take her and Olivia to a house hidden deep in the mountains. Here Jonathan Cromwell has been collecting a group of 'gifted' people -- people just like Ember and Olivia. Ember should be glad; she no longer has to worry about bills, and this is a place where she and her sister should belong. 

But things aren't what they seem at the Cromwell house, and as Ember gets closer to the truth, she also gets closer to hurting someone she cares about. 

Note: strong language. 

If you like this one, try: Suggestions? 

Review: 'Soulless' by Gail Carriger

Soulless by Gail Carriger, 2009, Orbit, $7.99, softbound, 373 pages. Category/Genre: steampunk. Cover: good, but why is her back broken? We like the fog . . . Where we got it: bought it. Where you can get it: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million.


We like this one, partly because it's a mishmash of steampunk and the supernatural, partly because it's well told and has excellent characters, and partly because of the humour. 

Alexia Tarabotti has a number of problems: she's a 25-year-old spinster (and half Italian, at that), she enjoys science far too much for a lady, and she's soulless. 

Being soulless means Alexia is a preternatural: able to nullify the supernatural with a touch. When she touches a werewolf or vampire, he becomes, for that moment, human again.

Alexia also has the irritating problem of a vampire trying to feed on her whilst she's enjoying a nice tea in the library. She ends up having to kill the vampire, which brings in the Bureau of Unnatural Registry and a burr under her saddle, Lord Conall Maccon, alpha werewolf and the fourth Earl of Woolsey. 

But Alexia soon has more to worry about than trading barbs with Maccon and wondering what sort of contraption his beta, Professor Randolph Lyall, is wearing on his face. Someone is causing lone werewolves to disappear and rove vampires to appear; and someone is after Alexia herself. 

Not only that, but Lord Maccon chooses now to kiss her. 

Note: mild language and graphic sexual situations. 

If you like this one, try: Soulless: The Manga by Gail Carriger; Changeless by Gail Carriger; Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger; and Phoenix Rising by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris.